This invention concerns a disk device that has a circular depression into which to insert a disk for recording and/or playback and has inside the device main unit a disk tray into which to load said disk.
As disk devices such as disk drives for a CD, DVD, etc., disk devices are known in which an optical disk, which is an information recording medium, is loaded by inserting it into a depression in a disk tray that is placed roughly horizontally, and accommodating the disk tray into a device main unit. Sometimes, however, besides being used in the horizontal orientation, the disk tray is used in the vertical orientation.
If the disk device is oriented vertically, it is not possible, just by inserting an optical disk into a disk tray depression, to hold the optical disk on the disk tray. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent H6-251479 [1994], a disk device has a disk tray in which claws for clamping the optical disk from outside its surface are provided in the outer circumferential part of the depression. In such prior art reference, because the claws hold the optical disk in clamped state, if used in vertical orientation, a condition sometimes results in which the optical disk is tilted with respect to the disk tray, and if this occurs, there is the danger that the optical disk will come into contact with the device main unit during loading into said disk tray. Thus there is the problem that the optical disk must be mounted on the disk tray carefully, so it is not tilted, and the operation of mounting the optical disk becomes complicated.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a disk device whereby the mounting of an optical disk in a disk tray is made easy regardless of the vertical or horizontal orientation of the disk device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a disk device having a cover member attached to a disk tray for facilitating the insertion and retention of a disk in the disk tray.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a disk device wherein a disk inserted into a depression on a disk tray is guided into a position roughly parallel to the surface of said disk tray depression.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a disk device wherein a disk inserted into a depression on a disk tray is prevented from being tilted with respect to said disk tray and thereby interfering with the insertion of said disk tray into said disk device.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become clear upon review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings.
A disk device is provided with a disk tray having a holding part that holds part of an outer circumference of an optical disk when the disk is inserted into a depression on the disk tray, the disk being held roughly parallel to the surface of the depression. The holding part prevents a disk mounted in a disk tray used in the vertical orientation from tilting with respect to the disk tray, which could interfere with insertion of the disk tray into the disk device. The holding part is provided along the circumferential edge of the depression and includes a groove-shaped part whose width gradually narrows toward the radially outward side of said depression, thereby resulting in a portion of the outer circumference of the disk being held, making the disk mounting operation even easier.
Also, it is desirable that a cover member that covers part of the disk be attached to the disk tray, and that the groove-shaped part consist of a tapered side surface formed on the outer circumference of the depression base surface and a first disk facing surface of the cover member that is roughly parallel to the depression base surface. Thus, with the cover member covering only part of the disk, a disk can be inserted in the disk tray in the vertical orientation through the part without the cover member. If the disk device is used in the horizontal orientation with the cover member mounted, the inside surface formed on the outer circumference of the depression base surface has a tapered side surface that is inclined toward the radially outward side of the depression, allowing the disk to be taken out smoothly and making the operation of replacing the disk easy. If the cover member is constructed so as to be removable from the disk tray, the cover member can be attached if the disk device is used in vertical orientation and detached if it is used in horizontal orientation.